Producing election coverage during a pandemic calls for adjustments and experimentation, and KGOU's newsroom rose to the challenge of the times on election night. The team produced Oklahoma Engaged Live: Voice of the Voter as a live four-hour webcast available for "second screen" viewing online at our election reporting hub, OklahomaEngaged.com.
Along with the presidential race, Oklahoma voters decided several statewide races in the 2020 General Election, including a U.S. Senate seat, five members of Congress, and two statewide ballot initiatives concerning criminal justice and funding for Medicaid expansion.
The webcast was hosted by KGOU Managing Editor Logan Layden and KOSU Executive Director Rachel Hubbard, and featured reporting by StateImpact Oklahoma's Quinton Chandler, Catherine Sweeney and Robby Korth, KGOU's Katelyn Howard, and KOSU's Allison Herrera.
As the election results came in throughout the evening, KGOU General Manager Dick Pryor moderated panel discussions with expert political analysts:
- Jeanette Mendez, Professor of Political Science and Vice Provost of Academic Affairs at Oklahoma State University.
- Andrea Benjamin, Associate Professor in the Clara Luper Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
- Keith Gaddie, President’s Associates Presidential Professor and Executive Faculty Fellow at the University of Oklahoma.
- Allyson Shortle, Associate Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma.
- Christine Pappas, Chair and professor of Political Science and Legal Studies in the Department of Law, Politics and Society at East Central University.
- Shawn Ashley, news director at eCapitol.
The webcast was coordinated through the online meeting platform Zoom, and special thanks go to our Zoom producer for the evening, Kerri K. White, Ed.D., Director of Engagement and Public Service at University of Oklahoma Outreach/College of Continuing Education, Public and Community Services Division, and to KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and Terry Farris for managing the OklahomaEngaged.com site.
Oklahoma Engaged is a collaborative election reporting project of public radio stations in Oklahoma. Major funding comes from the Inasmuch Foundation, with additional funding from the Kirkpatrick Foundation, and Oklahoma Humanities.
